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Semon Palatnik
S Palatnik 
 

Number of games in database: 602
Years covered: 1967 to 2012
Last FIDE rating: 2455
Highest rating achieved in database: 2515
Overall record: +233 -123 =241 (59.2%)*
   * Overall winning percentage = (wins+draws/2) / total games in the database. 5 exhibition games, blitz/rapid, odds games, etc. are excluded from this statistic.

MOST PLAYED OPENINGS
With the White pieces:
 Queen's Pawn Game (34) 
    E00 A45 A46 A41 A40
 King's Indian (31) 
    E73 E75 E92 E62 E63
 English (25) 
    A13 A15 A14 A17 A16
 Catalan (25) 
    E06 E04 E02 E08 E01
 English, 1 c4 c5 (19) 
    A31 A30 A33 A32 A34
 Grunfeld (16) 
    D85 D94 D86 D90 D75
With the Black pieces:
 Alekhine's Defense (71) 
    B05 B03 B02 B04
 Sicilian (48) 
    B84 B29 B90 B97 B93
 Benko Gambit (28) 
    A57 A58 A59
 Modern Benoni (28) 
    A57 A58 A59
 Dutch Defense (28) 
    A88 A81 A86 A90 A85
 English, 1 c4 c5 (26) 
    A34 A32 A33 A31 A36
Repertoire Explorer

NOTABLE GAMES: [what is this?]
   S Palatnik vs Geller, 1980 1-0
   S Palatnik vs I Stohl, 1986 1-0
   Ftacnik vs S Palatnik, 1978 1/2-1/2
   J A Lawrence vs S Palatnik, 2001 0-1
   S Palatnik vs Sveshnikov, 1976 1-0

NOTABLE TOURNAMENTS: [what is this?]
   Rimavska Sobota (1977)
   USSR Young Masters Championship (1976)
   CSR-ch International (1981)
   Hastings Challengers 1999/00 (1999)
   World Student Team Championship Final-A (1974)
   Kiev (1978)
   Baku (1988)
   Ukrainian Championship (1978)
   Kotov Memorial (1986)
   Albena (1975)
   46th URS-ch selection (1978)
   URS-ch sf Irkutsk (1983)
   41st URS-ch First League (1973)
   102nd US Open (2001)
   Cattolica Open (1993)

RECENT GAMES:
   🏆 Platonov Memorial
   A Mikhalchishin vs S Palatnik (Aug-01-12) 1/2-1/2
   S Palatnik vs Kaidanov (Jul-31-12) 1/2-1/2
   Gulko vs S Palatnik (Jul-30-12) 1/2-1/2
   S Palatnik vs M Gurevich (Jul-29-12) 1/2-1/2
   Alburt vs S Palatnik (Jul-28-12) 1/2-1/2

Search Sacrifice Explorer for Semon Palatnik
Search Google for Semon Palatnik
FIDE player card for Semon Palatnik

SEMON PALATNIK
(born Mar-26-1950, 75 years old) Ukraine (federation/nationality United States of America)

[what is this?]

Semon Aleksandrovich Palatnik was born in Odessa, Ukraine on March 26, 1950. Though his very noble name, "Semyon" means "heard by God," upon relocating to the United States of America, he found that his name was difficult for even educated westerners to pronounce and determined to change his name to the anglicized, "Sam," as a patriotic nod to the American symbol, Uncle Sam.

As a child, Palatnik was educated in world-class chess at the internationally renowned "Palace of Pioneers." Taking a break from chess to earn his Masters of Engineering Science (with an emphasis in Thermodynamics and Power Station Engineering) from Odessa Polytechnic University, he returned to active play in the late 1970's and swiftly earned his International Master title in 1977 and, shortly thereafter, the International Grandmaster title, in 1978.

As a scholastic chess prodigy, Palatnik won four team and individual gold medals at the 20th World Student Team Chess Championship at Teesside 1974 and also won the 21st World Student Team Championship at Caracas 1976. Later on, as a professional chess player, Palatnik's best tournament results include winning the World Open in 1971, 2nd= at Kiev 1978, 3rd at Hradec Kralove 1981, 2nd= at Trnava 1987, 1st at Hradec Kralove 1988 and 1st= at Calicut 1988. Most well known are the facts that GM Palatnik was twice the World Junior Champion and twice the European and Soviet Union Champion.

While GM Palatnik continued the tradition of top-flight Soviet-educated chess players, he is certainly better known for his spectacular results as a chess coach. While still in the former USSR, Palatnik served as the Executive Director of the Ukrainian National Chess Academy and the Vice President of the Ukranian Chess Association and was honored with the title of "Emeritus Chess Coach of the Ukraine."

Upon relocating to the United States in the 1990's alongside his longtime friend and frequent co-author, GM Lev Alburt, Sam Palatnik became, in 1994, the Grandmaster in Residence for the Nashville Chess Center. Continuing in his successful career representing American chess, Palatnik was named the American "Ambassador of Chess," by the United States Chess Federation, in 2003. Furthermore, he served as the US Chess Coach for the World Junior Championship and the Chess Olympiad, from 1999-2010.

Presently, GM Palatnik is a collegiate chess coach and assistant director for the nationally respected chess program at the University of Maryland at Baltimore and has served as the private coach of many successful scholastic players, including USCF Senior Master Warren Harper, Arena International Master Sean J. Manross and, more recently, the prodigy and International Master, Awonder Liang.

GM Sam Palatnik is a prolific chess author of note, publishing such titles as: Chess Tactics for the Tournament Player, Chess Strategy for the Tournament Player, The King in Jeopardy, The Tarrasch Formula, The Chess GPS, and most recently, Platonov's Chess Academy: Using Soviet-era Methods to Improve 21st-Century Openings.

Grandmaster Sam Palatnik also holds the esteemed FIDE governance titles of International Organizer and FIDE Senior Trainer.

Wikipedia article: Sam Palatnik

Last updated: 2020-11-22 11:16:22

Try our new games table.

 page 1 of 25; games 1-25 of 602  PGN Download
Game  ResultMoves YearEvent/LocaleOpening
1. S Palatnik vs Karpov ½-½61967LeningradC69 Ruy Lopez, Exchange, Gligoric Variation
2. Karpov vs S Palatnik 1-0341967Junior Qualification Tournament - semifinal-1A07 King's Indian Attack
3. S Palatnik vs A Volchok  ½-½391967Ukrainian ChampionshipB17 Caro-Kann, Steinitz Variation
4. Y Kots vs S Palatnik  1-0481967Ukrainian ChampionshipD94 Grunfeld
5. S Palatnik vs L Balmazi  0-1441967Ukrainian ChampionshipB17 Caro-Kann, Steinitz Variation
6. N Grodetsky vs S Palatnik  1-0431967Ukrainian ChampionshipB75 Sicilian, Dragon, Yugoslav Attack
7. V Terentiev vs S Palatnik  1-0271971Alma-AtaB99 Sicilian, Najdorf, 7...Be7 Main line
8. S Palatnik vs V Faibisovich  ½-½321971Alma-AtaC44 King's Pawn Game
9. M Mukhin vs S Palatnik  0-1561972URS-ch sf UzhgorodA57 Benko Gambit
10. Y Shabanov vs S Palatnik  1-0351972URS-ch sf UzhgorodB84 Sicilian, Scheveningen
11. Vasiukov vs S Palatnik  0-1411972URS-ch sf UzhgorodB50 Sicilian
12. S Palatnik vs L Grigorian  1-0361972URS-ch sf UzhgorodD41 Queen's Gambit Declined, Semi-Tarrasch
13. A Lukin vs S Palatnik  1-0611972URS-ch sf UzhgorodB51 Sicilian, Canal-Sokolsky (Rossolimo) Attack
14. S Palatnik vs V Telman  1-0421972Ukrainian ChampionshipB39 Sicilian, Accelerated Fianchetto, Breyer Variation
15. S Palatnik vs Romanishin  ½-½301972Ukrainian ChampionshipA15 English
16. V Buturin vs S Palatnik  0-1541972Ukrainian ChampionshipB84 Sicilian, Scheveningen
17. S Palatnik vs R Borngaesser  1-0291973Odessa Junior InternationalA21 English
18. B Perenyi vs S Palatnik  0-1281973Odessa Junior InternationalB29 Sicilian, Nimzovich-Rubinstein
19. L Listengarten vs S Palatnik  0-1371973USSRB93 Sicilian, Najdorf, 6.f4
20. S Palatnik vs L Vogt  ½-½261973Odessa Junior InternationalD01 Richter-Veresov Attack
21. Sveshnikov vs S Palatnik  1-0431973URS-ch Young MastersB22 Sicilian, Alapin
22. S Palatnik vs Gulko  ½-½411973URS-ch Young MastersA88 Dutch, Leningrad, Main Variation with c6
23. A Petrosian vs S Palatnik  0-1611973URS-ch Young MastersE82 King's Indian, Samisch, double Fianchetto Variation
24. Romanishin vs S Palatnik  1-0411973URS-ch Young MastersA34 English, Symmetrical
25. A Kochyev vs S Palatnik  ½-½251973URS-ch Young MastersB93 Sicilian, Najdorf, 6.f4
 page 1 of 25; games 1-25 of 602  PGN Download
  REFINE SEARCH:   White wins (1-0) | Black wins (0-1) | Draws (1/2-1/2) | Palatnik wins | Palatnik loses  

Kibitzer's Corner
May-08-05  woodenbishop: In 2003, GM Palatnik had a USCF rating of 2538, which is the highest in the state of Tennessee (the state he currently resides in). He has won the TN State Championship 6 times: 1994, 1995, 1997, 1999 (shared with Todd Andrews), 2000, and 2001.
Dec-16-05  OneArmedScissor: This guy is very rude. I met him at the Memphis Chess Classic 2004. He was at a stand selling (attempting to at least) sell some of his books. Seeing as he had no one around the booth or anything, I went over to him. I looked at each book and asked him which he would recommend, etc. I then asked him a few questions about chess... just small talk. And after I asked my second question he says, "What is this? An interview? Are you going to buy the book or not?"
Dec-16-05  PivotalAnorak: <OAS> Did you buy it ? ^^
Dec-16-05
Premium Chessgames Member
  keypusher: Like Kieseritzsky and Von Bardleben, seems fated to be remembered for a loss.

Kasparov vs Palatnik, 1978

Dec-16-05  OneArmedScissor: <PivotalAnorak>
Hell no. I asked for him to describe each book he was selling (basically, I was wanting him to sell me the product). There was a book on the "Tarrasch System."- a book about his style of play, etc. I asked him what the book was about, etc. Palatnik replies, "Well, Tarrasch was good. So I wrote a book about it." What 'it' actually is has yet to be determined.
Excellent review!
Dec-16-05
Premium Chessgames Member
  offramp: "Hey, Semon! Nice load of books you got here. Listen, man. I gotta tell ya... I'm a *bit* of a time-waster..."
Dec-16-05  magerk2: He got rolled by a young expert this year at the Tennessee Open and withdrew after the second round.
Mar-26-06  BIDMONFA: Semon Palatnik

Palatnik, Semon
http://www.bidmonfa.com/palatnik_se...
_

Mar-26-06  blingice: That reminds me of when I was in a magic store, and as I used to be a bit of a magic enthusiast, I knew a lot about tricks, etc.

So, the clerk was showing my younger cousin all these different tricks, and I told my cousin how to do every single one. After about the 5th trick I solved, (one that is supposedly difficult to understand, as the clerk confidently handed me the apparatus to do the trick to inspect [and I consequently explained]) the clerk says, "Look, are you gonna buy anything or not?"

Of course I wouldn't, as the prices were double what you payed for them off of websites.

Mar-26-07  RChambers: I met Palatnik once a couple of years ago and he was very nice and personable. I could understand him getting angry at a schmuck trying for chess "small-talk." Everybody wants to feel special and have people sell them their products, but come on, you don't have to play twenty questions before you buy the chess book.
Sep-10-07  chessamateur: He played in the DC Action Championship at the US Chess Center. Surprisingly he only tied for 3rd place with 4.5/6.
Aug-12-08  OneArmedScissor: <RChambers> I can assure you I wasn't just some "schmuck" and I didn't play twenty questions.

The only thing your post is indicative of is that you're a careless consumer. God forbid I want to know my $25 spent on the book is worth it as opposed to finding out the hard way.

I'm sorry I didn't know who Tarrasch was at the time. Apparently, inquiring about Tarrasch and how it relates to the man's book is too much to ask.

Sep-23-08  Whitehat1963: <OneArmedScissor> After such an exchange, I might have said something like, "Unfortunate first name." And walked away.
Feb-25-10  whiteshark: <OAS> Would you like to help expanding his bio? :D

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sam_Pa...

Mar-26-10  wordfunph: <OneArmedScissor> nice story on Semon Palatnik...but i'm sad that you didn't buy his book "Tarrasch System"..

you may be referring to his book "The Tarrasch Formula"..

http://www.amazon.com/Tarrasch-Form...

happy birthday Semon Palatnik! more chess books to write..

Mar-26-10  theagenbiteofinwit: Sam doesn't live in Tennessee anymore. I think he moved to New Jersey.
Apr-16-12  Everett: <I'm sorry I didn't know who Tarrasch was at the time. > reading this I wonder if Palatnik thought you were jerking him around. I mean, he is at a chess event where people who supposedly know something about the game have come to play or watch, so he may not have understood how someone there may not have know about Tarrasch.

Also, not everyone is into <small talk>, though admittedly this is a bad trait for a salesperson.

Jul-02-13  Alpinemaster: <RChambers>: I met Palatnik once a couple of years ago and he was very nice and personable. I could understand him getting angry at a schmuck trying for chess "small-talk." Everybody wants to feel special and have people sell them their products, but come on, you don't have to play twenty questions before you buy the chess book.

Calling a spade a spade, indeed <RChambers>. I have been Palatnik's student, and I teach the Terrasch Formula to my class, as it is an essential for any tournament player. If you don't know who Terrasch is, you probably should not be harassing a GM as to the merits of his authorship; then again, this statement is in defense of the good Herr Palatnik's reputation and to any potential student of his on this site. Obviously, rabble such as this kid are beyond reasoning and thus, I would not waste my time communicating with such.

Jun-29-14  pazzed paun: Is anyone planning on buying S.P. 's
new book where he updates the theories of Steinitz?
Mar-26-16  TheFocus: Happy birthday, Semon Palatnik.
Mar-26-20  Damenlaeuferbauer: Happy 70th birthday to the great Ukrainian and American chess player and coach Semon/Sam Palatnik! His 2 most famous games are his win against Efim Geller 1980 in Rostov on Don, which I saw in a chess magazine that time, and his loss against Garry Kasparov 1978 in Daugavpils/Dünaburg, which I recognized later.
Nov-22-20  Cyberpunk: I’ve known Sam Palatnik since the mid-1990s. I’ve never found him to be rude at all.
Nov-22-20
Premium Chessgames Member
  perfidious: Have never met the man, so can only go by the source of the comments above, a poster I have found thoroughly mean-spirited and who has been on ignore for years upon years.

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